Secret armies in Western Australia.(Letters)(Letter to the editor)

SIR: Hal G.P. Colebatch (April 2006) is sceptical about whether Western Australia had any pre-war "secret armies", especially secret armies involving his father.

Tangentially, I am curious about Western Australia's post-war "secret armies"--if any historian has elaborated on them, I have not noticed.

Evidence for these "secret armies" comes from an impeccable source: ex-Premier Sir Charles Court's memoirs The Early Years (1995). In pages 277-78, the ex-lieutenant-colonel writes, apparently apropos of 1946-47:

 
   The Communist Party in 
   Australia was strong, having 
   built up tremendously during the 
   war. A great number of men and 
   women throughout Australia 
   who had held positions in the 
   armed forces and had the 
   training, experience and 
   understanding of what 
   subversive elements meant, 
   were very concerned that the 
   Communist Party was seeking 
   to undermine the elected 
   government. A group of us came 
   together. Most of us were 
   politically conservative, but we 
   were just as determined to do 
   what we could to protect Ben 
   Chifley as the elected Prime 
   Minister as we would have been  ...